Der „Atlas der Donauländer“ - ein Großraumatlas der österreichischen Kartographie

Summary

This article reviews the "Atlas of the Danubian Countries," a significant achievement in Austrian cartography. Compiled by the Austrian Institute of East and Southeast European Studies, the atlas appeared in installments from 1970 after about twelve years of preparation, with seven fascicles published by 1983 and some still pending. The atlas adopts an international design, with texts and legends in German, English, French, and Russian, geographical names in official local languages, and contributions from experts in Danubian riparian states. The map sheets cover six countries—Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria—and parts of neighboring states, at a scale of 1:2 million, on 68 cm × 94 cm sheets, resulting in a 47 cm × 68 cm format. The article details the content of key sheets, including topographic maps, hypsometric maps, relief maps, administrative divisions, geology, and geomorphology, evaluating their cartographic techniques and presentation. The atlas excels in harmonizing heterogeneous source materials, achieving appropriate generalization, and employing multi-layered representations, but it has shortcomings such as missing data years, overly simplistic explanatory texts, and unwieldy text sheets. Overall, the atlas provides a comprehensive and systematic geographic treatment of the Danubian region, drawing on diverse and often inaccessible national publications in over a dozen languages, representing a highly commendable scientific achievement aimed at a broad international scholarly audience, with a print run of 2,000 copies meeting professional needs, though a more accessible mass edition would be desirable.